A Once Upon a Time Novella
by The Craver
Summary: Set in the chapters SEVENTY and SEVENTY-ONE of Once Upon a Time Lord: When World's Collide. My Once Upon a Time Lord stories are dedicated to my inspirations; VoiceOfTime and Anastacie Colbert.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**A few days earlier...**

After helping the gang in Storybrooke with the Black Diamond problem, the Doctor and the Professor took Clara back to London, so she can make a future for herself in Storybrooke. She enjoyed it there. The people were amazing, and she had a lovely boyfriend. When she got to the Maitland residence, she handed in her resignation and said she would only be there for another two more weeks. During these two weeks, both the Professor and Doctor hopped from day to day picking up Clara to take her on trips in space and time. Trips to places like Akhaten, Yorkshire and Hedgewick's Amusement Park.

While on Clara's last day at the Maitlands, she decided to make a very special soufflé for the occasion. She wasn't that good at making soufflés but she hoped that today it would be perfect.

Angie, who was sitting at the kitchen table with her brother, Archie, turned around. "Oh no. You're going to try and make a soufflé again, aren't you?" She complained.

"My mum's soufflé, yeah," Clara responded. "Although this time I will get it right. This time I will be Soufflé Girl."

"How can it be your mum's soufflé if you're making it?" Archie questioned.

"Because, Artie, its like my mum always said, "The soufflé isn't the soufflé. The soufflé is the recipe.""

"Was your mum deep on puddings?" Angie asked.

"She was a great woman," Clara said, as she noticed an old looking envelope on the counter. She picked it up, just as the Professor walked in to greet her.

He was gonna help Clara to pick up the rest of her items. "Hey," he said, kissing her cheek. "What do you have there?"

"Hey. And I don't know," she said.

"Oh, it arrived today," Angie said. "Its for Clara."

Clara nodded slowly, and went up to her room, as she opened the letter and began to read it, with the Professor following her and reading over her shoulder:

"_My dearest Clara. The Doctor entrusted me with your contact details in the event of an emergency, and I fear one has now arisen. Assuming this letter will have reached you as planned, on April the tenth, 2013, please find and light the enclosed candle. It will release a soporific which will induce a trance state, enabling direct communication across the years."_

The Professor looked at the candle and decided to go get a lighter from another room, with Clara still reading.

"_However, as I realise you have no reason to trust this letter, I have taken the liberty of embedding the same soporific into the fabric of the paper you are now holding. Speak soon."_

The Professor heard a soft thump, and came back to the room, seeing Clara on the floor, unconscious. Knowing what it meant, he sat beside her, and put her head in his lap.


	2. What is his Name?

**Chapter ONE: What is his Name?**

As soon as Clara passed out, she found herself in a strange room with Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax. "So glad you could make it," Madame Vastra said, handing Clara some tea, which she took.

"Where am I?" Clara asked.

"Exactly where you were, but sleeping," Jenny said.

"Time travel has always been possible in dreams," explained Madame Vastra. "We are awaiting only one more participant..."

"Oh, no," Strax said. "Not the one with the gigantic head."

"It's hair, Strax," Jenny corrected.

"Ugh! _Hair_..." Strax said, when River Song poofed in in a cloud of smoke.

"Madame Vastra," River said.

"Professor," Madame Vastra said. "Help yourself to some tea."

"Why thank you," River said, poofing wine up for her self.

"How did you do that?" Jenny asked.

"Disgracefully," River said, then her gaze turned to Clara. "Clara..."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" She asked.

"No. But you will..." Clara stared back. "Professor River Song. The Doctor might have mentioned me?"

"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Of cause he had. Professor Song," Clara said. "Sorry. It's just that I never realised you were a woman."

"Well, neither did I," Strax said.

"Perhaps we should get down to the business at hand," Madame Vastra said, breaking the awkward silence.

"That might be good, dear, yes," Jenny agreed.

Madame Vastra nodded, and through some particles into the air, which formed themselves into a picture. "Clarence DeMarco, murderer. Under sentence of death, he offered us this in exchange for his life." Madame Vastra waved her hand and the picture turned into Gallifreyan.

"Space-time coordinates," observed River.

"This, Mr DeMarco claims, is the location of the Doctor's greatest secret."

"Which is?" Clara asked.

"We don't know," Jenny said. "It's a secret."

"The Doctor does not discuss his secrets with anyone, my dear," Madame Vastra said. "If you're still entertaining the idea that you're an exception to this rule, ask yourself one question: What is his name?"

Clara stared at her. "Well, I know it," River said.

"What? Clara asked. "You know his name? He told you?"

"I made him."

"How?"

"It took a while..."

"So … So you were a friend of his, then?"

"A little more than a friend. A long time ago."

"He's still never contacted you?" Madame Vastra asked.

"He doesn't like endings," River said, while Jenny gasped. "So what else did this DeMarco tell you? He didn't just buy his life with some coordinates. "How did he prove his value?"

"One word only."

"What word?"

"A word I've heard in connection with the Doctor before. Trenzalore."

"How exactly did he describe what he was giving you?"

Madame Vastra waved her hand and transformed the pictures into the face of DeMarco, which said, "The Doctor has a secret, you know. He has one he will take to the grave. And it is discovered."

"You misunderstood," River said.

"Ma'am," Jenny started to say. "Sorry, I … I just realised I forgot to lock the door."

"It doesn't matter, Jenny," Madame Vastra said. "What misunderstanding? Tell me."

"No, ma'am, please...I should have locked up before we went into the trance."

"Jenny. It doesn't matter."

"Someone's broken in. Someone's with us. I can hear them."

"Jenny. Are you alright?"

"Sorry, ma'am. So sorry. So sorry, so sorry. Think I've been murdered," Jenny said, as she faded out.

"Jenny?" Madame Vastra asked.

"What's happened to her?" Clara asked.

"Jenny, can you hear me?"

"Speak to us, boy," Strax said.

"Jenny!" Cried Madame Vastra.

"You're under attack," River said, slowly getting up. "You must wake up now. Just wake up! Do it!" And with that, River slapped Madame Vastra's cheek, prompting her to wake up. "You too Strax. Wake up now," River said, throwing her wine in his face, which caused him to wake up too.

Both Clara and River then went to each other, as Whispermen came into the dream conference, surrounding them. "Tell the Doctor. Tell the Doctor," the whispered endlessly.

"Tell him what?" Clara asked, as the Great Intelligence appeared in the form of the dream particles.

"His friends are lost forever more," the Great Intelligence said. "Unless he goes to Trenzalore."

"No, you can't say that," River said. "He can't go there. You know he can't."

But, for Clara, her dream state was weakening. She could slowly her the Doctor calling out. When she did, she found herself staring up at the Professor. "Hey..." she said, smiling.

"You alright?" He asked.

Clara nodded, sitting up slowly, with her head in her hand. "Think so..."

"Good," the Professor said, as he helped her up, and went with her to the Doctor, who was in the hall, blindfolded.

"Artie?" The Doctor called out. "Am I getting warm? Am I getting warm? Look, I'm pretty sure you have to tell me if I'm getting warm. I'm-m-m-m pretty sure that's in the rules."

"Doctor?" Clara asked.

"Ha, Clara!" The Doctor said. "How are you. Don't worry. Everything is under control."

"What are you doing, Dad?" The Professor asked.

"Oh, um … Mr Maitland went next door, so I said I'd look after the kids. They wanted to go to the cinema but I said, "No." I said, "No. Not until you two finished … canoodling." I was very firm."

"Doctor … We were not canoodling," Clara said firmly.

"Did you actually say canoodling?" The Professor asked.

"Well, no," the Doctor said. "They came up with that by themselves. And the, they suggested that we play Blind Man's Bluff...So … Where are they?"

The Professor waved his hand, which made the blindfold on the Doctor dissipate. "My guess is they tricked you so they can go to the cinema."

"The little … Daleks," the Doctor said, then noticed a serious look on Clara's face. "Whats wrong?"


	3. Trenzalore

**Chapter TWO: Trenzalore**

Soon the three went down to the living room. The Doctor went over to sit on the sofa; the Professor went over to the mantle piece to look at some pictures and Clara decided to make them some tea.

"So, who was she?" Clara asked. "The lady with the funny name and the space hair..."

"An old friend of mine..." the Doctor said.

"What, like an ex?" Clara asked.

"Now, that is complicated," the Professor said.

"What do you mean?"

"We first met her when she died. Then we kept on meeting her anywhere..."

Clara nodded, slowly. The Doctor spoke up again. "River asked Vastra for the exact words. What were they?"

"'The Doctor has a secret he will take to the grave.'," Clara said, bringing the cups over to them. "It is discovered.'"

The Doctor looked down. "Dad?" The Professor asked, going over.

"Sorry," the Doctor said, softly. Tears began to form in his eyes. "And it was Trenzalore? It was definitely Trenzalore?"

"Yeah," Clara said.

"Oh, dear," the Doctor whispered, then spoke normally, "Sorry." He got up in a rush and exited the house.

"Well, that was weird," Clara said.

"Must have brought back his past..." the Professor said, holding Clara's hand and started to walk with her to follow his father.

They walked into the TARDIS and down the stairs below the console room, where the Doctor was sitting on the cupboards.

"Well?" Clara asked.

"Trenzalore. I've heard the name, of course," the Doctor began. "Dorian mentioned it, a few others … We all suspected what it was, never wanted to find out myself." The Doctor stood up, and sonicked the cables above. "River would know, though. River always knew." He picked a wire and held it in his hand. "Right. Come here, Clara. Give me your hand." The Professor and Clara both went up to him, and the Professor wrapped his arms around her waist, while she outstretched her hand. "Now, the coordinates you saw will still be in your memory," the Doctor continued. I'm linking you into the TARDIS telepathic circuit. Won't hurt a bit."

The Professor, knowing of what was going to happen, began to kiss Clara's neck, in hopes of distracting her long enough. The Doctor pricked Clara's hand with a wire from the TARDIS but it broke Clara's concentration from the neck kisses. "Ow..." she said.

"I lied," the Doctor said, as the circuit made a whining tone.

"So, what is Trenzalore?" Clara asked. "Is that your big secret?"

"No."

"Okay. What, then?"

"When you are a time traveller, there is one place you must never go. One place in all time and space you must never, ever find yourself."

"Where?"

"Your grave," the Professor said. "The Great Intelligence was talking about Dad's Grave. Not his secret."

The Doctor nodded. "Its my grave that's been discovered. Trenzalore is where I'm buried," he said, then walked up the stairs.

Clara and the Professor turned around, following. "How can you have a grave?" Clara asked.

"Because we all do somewhere out in the future, waiting for us. The trouble with time travel is you can actually end up visiting."

"But you're not going to. You just said it's one place you must never go."

"I have to save Vastra and Strax. Jenny, too, if it's still possible. They cared for me in the dark times. Never questioned me, never judged me, they were just … kind. I owe them. I have a duty. No point in telling you this is too dangerous?"

Both the Professor and Clara looked at each other and smiled. "None at al," Clara said. "How can we save them?"

"Apparently, by breaking into my own tomb," the Doctor said, flipping a lever and starting the engines. The control room filled the air with the ancient wheezing and groaning. Both the Professor and the Doctor tried to fly the TARDIS but the ship was too strong-willed. It had figured out where they were planning on heading and tried to stop it from happening.

"What's that?" Clara asked.

"Well, the TARDIS has figured out what we're planning on doing," the Professor said. "And she's against it."

The Doctor grabbed two switches and tried to pull them down. "I'm about to cross my own timeline in the biggest way possible. And the TARDIS doesn't like it. She's fighting it."

"Hang on, Clara..." the Professor said, as Clara held on to the console as tight as she could.

As the two Time Lords forced the ship to Trenzalore sparks flew out of the console, before shutting down and stopping suddenly. It stopped so suddenly that it created enough force to push the three away from the console.

"Now what?" Clara asked.

"She's shut down everything because she doesn't want to land," the Professor said.

"So, we're not there?"

The Doctor had gone over to the console, trying to flick some controls. "We must be close," he said, going over to the doors, opening them. Once opened, he saw the planet below. A ravaged planet with rivers of lava. "Okay. So that's where I end up." The Professor and Clara went over. "I always thought maybe I'd retire, take up watercolours or bee-keeping or something. Apparently not."

"So, how do we get down there?" Clara asked. "Jump?"

"Don't be silly. We fall," the Doctor said, shutting the doors and headed for the console. "She's turned off practically everything except the anti-gravs. Guess what I'm turning off?" He took out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the console. Giving it a quick whir, he turned off the anti-gravs . As soon as he did, the TARDIS lost orbit and fell towards the planet. As they did, the Professor held on tightly to the TARDIS railing, with Clara holding on to him.

Once the TARDIS landed on the planet, the Doctor walked out first, and noticed a crack in the windows. He rubbed it, and said, "Oops."

The Professor and Clara followed him out on the stormy planet. There were gravestones strewn everywhere, and ivy had started to grow on some.

"You okay?" Clara asked. "Visiting your own grave, anyone would be scared."

"It's more than that," the Doctor said. "I'm a time traveller. I've probably time-travelled more than anyone else."

"Meaning?"

"His grave is one of the dangerous places in the universe," the Professor said.

"Shall we?" The Doctor asked.

The Professor and Clara nodded as they began to walk with the Doctor. "The gravestones are a bit basic," Clara said.

"It's a battlefield graveyard. My final battle," the Doctor explained.

"Why are some of them bigger?"

"They're soldiers. Bigger the gravestone, higher the rank."

They climbed over a small hill, and saw a decaying TARDIS. It was larger than the one that they had came from.

"It's a Hell of a monument," Clara said.

"It's the TARDIS," the Professor said.

"I can see that."

"When a TARDIS is dying, sometimes the dimension dams start breaking down. They used to call it a size leak," the Doctor said. "All the bigger on the inside starts leaking to the outside and it grows. So it is actually the TARDIS. My TARDIS from the future." The Doctor started to walk forward. "What else would the bury me in?"

The Professor put an arm around Clara, when she heard a voice. "Clara!" River said. "Don't speak. Don't say my name. They can't see or hear me. Only you can."

"Well, come on then!" The Doctor called back to them.

"We're mentally linked. It's the conference call. I kept the line open."

The Professor turned around to see what Clara was looking at when he saw a small gravestone. "Dad...You may want to see this..." he called back.

The Doctor went over to them. "What are you looking at? We need to get..." But he couldn't finish his sentence when he saw the gravestone too. "River?" He asked softly, staring at her tombstone. He went over to it and fingered over the engraved V.

"That can't be right," Clara said, looking at it too.

"Of course not," the Professor said. "How could she die here when she died on another planet a long time ago?"

"Dead?"

"Yeah," River said to Clara. "I probably should have mentioned that. Never the right time."

"But I met her."

"Long story," the Doctor said. "But her grave can't be here."

While they were musing River's tomb, Clara could hear some whispering. She turned around. "Doctor! Professor!" She said, and they turned around, seeing the Whispermen approaching.

"This man must fall, as all men must," they uttered. "The fate of all is always dust."

The Doctor was trying to work his sonic screwdriver at them, while the Professor conjured up a fireball and aimed it at them. But the fireball just passed through the Whispermen.

"If it isn't my gravestone, then what it is?" River asked.

"What do you think that gravestone really is?" Clara repeated to the two Time Lords.

"The gravestone?" The Doctor asked back.

"Maybe it's a false grave," River said.

"Maybe it's a false grave," Clara repeated.

"Maybe," the Professor said.

"Maybe it's a secret entrance to the tomb," River said.

"Maybe it's a secret entrance to the tomb!" Clara repeated.

The Doctor spun around. "Yes. Of course. Makes sense," he said, whirring his sonic screwdriver at the tomb. "They'd never bury my wife out here."

Clara spun around, as the Professor put his arms around her. "Your what?" She asked.

As the three fell, the Whispermen crouched down over the grave. "The man who lies will lie no more. Where this man lies it's Trenzalore."


	4. The Catacombs

**Chapter THREE: The Catacombs**

Once the three fell through the trap door, the began to walk through a series of tunnels. The Doctor found a lit torch made from a Dalek eyestalk and used it to light their way.

"Where are we?" Clara asked, as the Professor helped her down from a flight of stairs.

"Catacombs," the Doctor stated.

"I hate catacombs."

"I'm here for you," the Professor said, wrapping an arm around Clara.

Clara smiled up at him, then asked the Doctor, "So how come I met your dead wife?"

"Oh, well. You know how it is when you lose someone close to you," the Doctor said. "I sort of made a backup."

River appeared behand Clara. "I died saving him. In return, he saved me to a database in the biggest library in the universe. Left me like a book on a shelf. Didn't even say goodbye. He doesn't like endings."

But the Whispermen had found themselves into the catacombs too. One emerged through the spirit of River, to which the Professor pulled Clara out of the way.

"Dad! We have company," he said.

The Doctor turned around. "Run!" He said, and led the two through the rest of the catacombs.

* * *

><p>The Doctor led the Professor and Clara into one of the TARDIS hallways, that connected to the catacombs. "Okay. Come on. Quickly," he said.<p>

"Ah!" Clara said, as a Whisperman got her hand.

The Professor tried to pull her free from the snarling Whispermen. "Clara. Focus on our love," he said.

Clara did and managed to escape the clutches of the Whispermen. The Doctor shut the metal door behind them. But a hand of a Whisperman still stayed on their side, til it too slid through the door, making it shut properly. "Yowzah," he said, dropping the torch onto the floor.

The three made their way again, and began to climb up some metal staircases. "There's still a bit of a climb," the Doctor said. "I think I remember the way."

Clara had stopped suddenly and leaned against the Professor for support. "What's wrong?" The Professor asked.

"I just … feel lightheaded. And dizzy," Clara said.

The Doctor turned around. "The dimensioning forces this deep in the TARDIS can make one feel giddy.

"I know, I know," Clara said, then stopped herself and pulled away. "How do I know? How do I know that?"

"Clara. I'll explain everything to you once this is over," the Professor said, reaching for her hand.

"Have we … Have we done this before?" Clara asked, taking the Professor's hand. But also, she started to remember what she had done earlier. When a trio of money hungry brothers had wrecked the TARDIS. "We have. We have done this before. Climbing though a wrecked TARDIS. Doctor, you said things. Things I'm not supposed to remember."

"We can't do this now," the Doctor said. "The TARDIS is a ruin. The telepathic circuits are awakening memories you shouldn't even have."

But Clara wasn't listening. She had remembered a conversation with the Doctor. She curled into the Professor. "You scared me," she said to the Doctor. "You said I died. I could I die?"

"That is not a conversation you should even remember..." the Doctor said.

"What do you mean I died?" Clara asked back, but the Whispermen interrupted their train of thoughts.

"The girl who died he tries to save," they said. "She'll die again inside the grave."

"Run," the Doctor told the Professor and Clara, which they did.


End file.
